Pippi
Pippi (ピッピ) is a playable character in EarthBound Beginnings, ''and the first character to join Ninten, even if temporary. Unlike other unnameable characters in the ''MOTHER series that join the party, her actions are not autonomous as if she were a nameable character. Though she doesn't have PSI, she has high stats across the board. She can equip the Slingshot. Pippi is a young girl who lives on the outskirts of Podunk, near Ninten's home, with her mother Lindgren. At the beginning of the game, Ninten learns from Lindgren that Pippi has gone missing. Upon arriving in Podunk, Ninten meets with Mr. Mayor, the head of Podunk, who is preparing for re-elections at the time. To make himself out to be a hero and have the town vote in his favor, he enlists the help of Ninten to rescue Pippi from the Cemetery to the south. Ninten braves the zombie-laden cemetery to find Pippi locked in the leftmost coffin in an underground tomb. Upon being rescued, Pippi may give Ninten a Franklin Badge if two questions are answered correctly (if not, the badge can still be received if she is spoken to in her home). Pippi then joins Ninten's party as a playable character, and the two return to Podunk. When the two arrive at the City Hall, Mr. Mayor, eager for his name to be in the headlines as a hero, bribes Ninten to allow him to take the credit for rescuing her with money and the key to the City Zoo. Pippi is left in the mayor's care and subsequently appears in front of her house with her Mother for the rest of the game. Along with appearing in front of her house, she also makes an appearance at the house in the swamp near Ellay. She tells Ninten that she sneaked out of her house and asks Ninten to not tell her mother. Speaking to her there will trigger Ninten and friends to "stay the night" and recover all their hit points and psychic points. Trivia *In the programming for Mother, there is an unused battle sprite strongly resembling Pippi that does not appear in the final version of the game, called a Gang Zombie. *It is likely that Pippi was visually inspired by Pippi Longstocking, a fictional character in a series of children's books created by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. This is supported by how Pippi's last name is Lindgren, just like the author of the book. *Pippi's immense strength also alludes to Pippi Longstocking as she also displays huge power in the book, and is referred as "The Strongest Girl In the World". *If Pippi is kept in Ninten's party for as long as possible, it can be seen that her stats grow much quicker than Ninten's. This makes it easier to level up Ninten, as a second, more powerful party member makes it easier to defeat enemies who award larger amounts of experience points. In fact, Pippi is identical stat-wise to Teddy; she is just at a much lower initial level and is kept too briefly for most players to notice. *Pippi and Teddy are the only characters in EarthBound Beginnings to have an unused sprite. *Pippi is the only playable female character that cannot equip a frying pan. Both Ana and Paula have a frying pan as a primary weapon and Kumatora can equip the Fake Frying Pan. *If you keep Pippi with you while you're at the swamp (of course by hacking) then she won't appear in the house in the swamp. *Pippi possibly turned into a zombie and must be fought as a boss in a pre-release version, but once defeated regained all senses. *She is the only playable character in the entire Mother series whose name can't be changed. *It can be presumed that if Pippi were to be hacked back into the party at a point where the Boomerang is available, she would be able to equip it as she can the Slingshot because anyone in the game can equip Slingshots and Boomerangs. it:Pippi Category:Characters Category:Female Characters Category:EarthBound Beginnings Characters Category:EarthBound Beginnings Category:Temporary party members Category:Temporary party members in EarthBound Beginnings Category:Playable Party Members in EarthBound Beginnings Category:Characters with unused sprites Category:Playable party members in Mother